JP2011215819A - Control apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control apparatus that can efficiently provide security even during remote maintenance.SOLUTION: The control apparatus 50 connected with a plurality of sensors 100a-100c receives a control signal including target identification information identifying a sensor to be maintained and indicating that the sensor should be maintained, from a remote maintenance server 400 via a network NT2, and then performs maintenance of the target sensor in response to the control signal. If receiving, during the maintenance of the sensor, a detection result from another sensor, the control apparatus 50 sends an alarm in response to the detection result.

Description

  The present invention relates to a control device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a control device is connected to various sensors such as a human body detection sensor and an image sensor arranged in an area to be guarded (guard target area), and transmits an alarm to a monitoring center based on detection results of the various sensors. is there.

  For example, when performing remote maintenance of the control device by instructing to update the firmware stored in the control device from a remote location, it is necessary to reboot the control device. For this reason, there was a risk that a security blank period would occur during remote maintenance. In order to avoid this, when the control device is rebooted, a security guard may be dispatched to a security target area or a technician may be present, but this is not efficient.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a control device that can efficiently perform security even during remote maintenance.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention is a control device in which a plurality of sensors are connected and a server device is connected via a network, and a detection result transmitted from the sensors is obtained. First specifying means for receiving, first transmitting means for transmitting an alarm according to the detection result received by the receiving means, and target specifying information for specifying a maintenance target sensor from the server device via the network. And a second receiving means for receiving a control signal for instructing execution of maintenance for the sensor, and an execution means for executing maintenance on the sensor in response to the control signal received by the second receiving means. The first transmission unit includes the target specifying information of another sensor while the execution unit is performing maintenance on the sensor. If intellectual results are received by the receiving means, in accordance with the detection result, and transmits the alarm.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently perform security even during remote maintenance.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a security system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the control device 50. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the maintenance handling process. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the maintenance handling process. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the alert handling process.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a control device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Here, the configuration of a security system including the control device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The security system includes a control device 50 to which a plurality of sensors 100a, 100b, and 100c are connected, a signal receiving server (SV) 200, a remote maintenance server (SV) 400, a central processing server (SV) 500, and a monitoring client. (CL) 600 and a remote maintenance client (CL) 700 are provided. The control device 50 is disposed in a guarded area or a home or facility near the guarded area, and the signal receiving server 200, the remote maintenance server 400, and the central processing server 500 are disposed in a monitoring center. Has been. Control device 50, signal receiving server 200, remote maintenance server 400, and central processing server 500 are connected via network NT1. Central processing server 500, monitoring client 600, and remote maintenance client 700 are connected via network NT2. The sensors 100a, 100b, and 100c are disposed in the security target area. In addition, when it is not necessary to distinguish the sensors 100a, 100b, and 100c, they are simply referred to as the sensor 100. In addition, a plurality of sensors 100 can be connected to the control device 50. Each sensor 100 is, for example, a human body detection sensor that detects a human body, an image sensor that captures an image as a detection result, an open / close sensor that detects opening / closing of a door, and the like, and transmits the detection result to the control device 50. Each sensor 100 is given a name (sensor name) for identifying each sensor and an IP (Internet Protocol) address. Each sensor 100 stores firmware for realizing the function of the sensor 100. The control device 50 is also assigned an IP address. Each of the networks NT1 and NT2 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network), an intranet, an Ethernet (registered trademark), or the Internet. The networks NT1 and NT2 are different networks in the present embodiment, but may be the same network.

  Here, hardware configurations of the control device 50, the signal reception server 200, the remote maintenance server 400, the central processing server 500, the monitoring client 600, and the remote maintenance client 700 will be described. Each device includes a control unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that controls the entire device, a main storage unit such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory) that stores various data and various programs, and various types of devices. Auxiliary storage units such as HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and CD (Compact Disk) drive devices that store data and various programs are connected to a communication I / F (interface) that controls communication with other devices. And a hardware configuration using a normal computer. In addition, a display unit for displaying information and an operation input unit such as a keyboard and a mouse for receiving a user's instruction input are connected to the control device 50 and the remote maintenance client 700, respectively, by wire or wirelessly.

The remote maintenance client 700 stores the firmware of each sensor 100. The remote maintenance client 700 designates, through the operation input unit, target specifying information for specifying the sensor 100 or the control device 50 as a maintenance target device (referred to as a maintenance target device) and a maintenance number corresponding to the content of the maintenance. And accepting an operation input instructing execution of remote maintenance. The target identification information is, for example, a name (such as a sensor name or “control device”) assigned to the sensor 100 or the control device 50, or an IP address assigned to the sensor 100 or the control device 50. Here, the name is used. Then, the remote maintenance client 700 transmits a control signal indicating the name and maintenance number of the maintenance target device and instructing execution of the maintenance to the central processing server 500 via the network NT2. The contents of maintenance include, for example, confirmation of the state (status) of maintenance target devices such as the sensor 100 and the control device 50, confirmation of the operation of the maintenance target device, resetting of the maintenance target device, maintenance For example, the firmware stored in the target device is updated. When the content of the remote maintenance instructed to execute is firmware update, the remote maintenance client 700 sends the firmware to be updated to the central processing server 500 via the network NT2 in response to a request from the central processing server 500. To send. Note that the number of sensors 100 that are maintenance target devices may be one or more.

  When the signal reception server 200 receives an alarm indicating that the occurrence of an abnormality has been detected by the sensor 100 from the control device 50 via the network NT1, the signal reception server 200 transmits a security signal indicating that fact to the central processing server 500.

  When the central processing server 500 receives the guard signal transmitted from the signal receiving server 200, the central processing server 500 transmits the guard signal to the monitoring client 600. In addition, the central processing server 500 has a maintenance content table that stores maintenance contents and maintenance numbers in association with each other. When the central processing server 500 receives a control signal indicating the name of the maintenance target device and the maintenance number from the remote maintenance client 700 via the network NT2 and instructing the execution of the maintenance, the central processing server 500 refers to the maintenance content table and displays the maintenance content. In response to the determination result, the remote maintenance server 400 is requested to transmit a control signal, or the remote maintenance client 700 is requested to transmit firmware to be updated, and the firmware is acquired to transmit the firmware. To the remote maintenance server 400.

  When the monitoring client 600 receives the security signal from the central processing server 500, for example, the monitoring client 600 displays a message indicating that an abnormality has occurred on the display unit.

  In response to a request from the central processing server 500, the remote maintenance server 400 transmits a control signal indicating the name and maintenance number of the maintenance target device and instructing execution of the maintenance to the control device 50 via the network NT1. Or send the firmware to be updated.

  The sensor 100 transmits a detection result including target specifying information for specifying the sensor to the control device 50. Although the target specifying information included in the control signal is the name of the maintenance target device, the target specifying information included in the detection result may be the name of the sensor 100 according to this, or the IP of the sensor 100 It may be an address. When the sensor 100 transmits a detection result to the control device 50, the sensor 100 receives a non-reception message indicating that the detection result cannot be received during the execution of the maintenance from the control device 50, and the detection result not received by the control device 50 is received. And stored in association with the detected time (detected time).

  Next, the functional configuration of the control device 50 will be described with reference to FIG. The control device 50 includes a signal reception unit 51, a maintenance execution unit 52, a detection result processing unit 53, a maintenance target table 54, and a maintenance content table 55. The signal reception unit 51, the maintenance execution unit 52, and the detection result processing unit 53 are stored on a main storage unit such as a RAM when the CPU of the control device 50 executes various programs stored in the main storage unit or the auxiliary storage unit. Is generated. The maintenance target table 54 and the maintenance content table 55 are stored in an auxiliary storage unit such as an HDD.

  The maintenance target table 54 includes the sensor name (such as “image sensor”) of the sensor 100 that can be the maintenance target, the name of the control device 50 itself (such as “control device”), and the IP addresses of the sensor 100 and control device 50, respectively. It is stored in association. The maintenance content table 55 stores the maintenance content and the maintenance number in association with each other, like the maintenance content table of the central processing server 500.

The signal receiving unit 51 receives control signals and firmware from the central processing server 500.
The maintenance execution unit 52 refers to the maintenance target table 54 and the maintenance content table 55 according to the control signal received by the signal receiving unit 51, identifies the maintenance target device and the content of maintenance, and responds to the content of the maintenance. Then, maintenance is performed on the maintenance target device.

  The detection result processing unit 53 receives the detection result transmitted from the sensor 100, and transmits an alarm indicating that the occurrence of an abnormality has been detected by the sensor 100 to the signal reception server 200 according to the detection result. . When a detection result is transmitted from the sensor 100 while the maintenance execution unit 52 is performing maintenance on the control device 50 itself as a maintenance target device, the detection result processing unit 53 displays the detection result during the execution of the maintenance. A reception impossible message indicating that reception is not possible is transmitted to the sensor 100. When the maintenance execution unit 52 finishes executing the maintenance, the detection result processing unit 53 accesses each sensor 100 to determine whether or not there is a detection result stored during the execution of the maintenance. When there is a result, the detection result is acquired, and an alarm including the detection time of the detection result is transmitted to the signal reception server 200 according to the detection result. If the alarm cannot be transmitted to the signal receiving server 200 due to disconnection of the network NT1, etc., the detection result processing unit 53 transmits the alarm to the signal receiving server 200 again after a certain period.

  Next, a procedure for maintenance handling processing performed by the control device 50 according to the present embodiment will be described. First, the maintenance corresponding processing when the maintenance target device is the sensor 100a and the content of the maintenance is to confirm the state of the sensor 100a, to confirm the operation of the sensor 100, or to reset the sensor 100. The procedure will be described with reference to FIG. In the remote maintenance client 700, the user designates the sensor name of the sensor 100a as the maintenance target device and the maintenance number corresponding to the content of the maintenance via the operation input unit, and performs the operation input instructing the execution of the remote maintenance. The remote maintenance client 700 receives the operation input, and transmits a control signal indicating the designated sensor name and maintenance number and instructing execution of the maintenance to the central processing server 500 via the network NT2 (step S1). When receiving the control signal from the remote maintenance client 700, the central processing server 500 refers to the maintenance content table using the maintenance number indicated by the maintenance signal, and determines the content of the maintenance. When it is determined that the content of the maintenance is to confirm the state of the sensor 100, to confirm the operation of the sensor 100, or to reset the sensor 100, the central processing server 500 remotely transmits the control signal. A request is sent to the maintenance server 400 (step S2). The remote maintenance server 400 transmits the control signal to the control device 50 via the network NT1 in response to a request from the central processing server 500 (step S3). When receiving the control signal from the remote maintenance server 400 (Step S4), the control device 50 refers to the maintenance target table 54 using the sensor name indicated by the control signal, and the IP address of the sensor 100 of the maintenance target device. And the maintenance content is identified by referring to the maintenance content table 55 using the maintenance number indicated by the control signal (step S5). When the content of the maintenance is specified to confirm the state of the sensor 100, confirm the operation of the sensor 100, or reset the sensor 100, the control device 50 detects the sensor 100a with the identified IP address. To perform maintenance corresponding to the content (step S6).

Next, a procedure of maintenance handling processing when the maintenance target apparatus is the sensor 100 and the maintenance content is firmware update will be described with reference to FIG. Steps S1 to S5 are the same as described above. If it is determined in step S2 that the maintenance content is firmware update, the central processing server 500 requests the remote maintenance server 400 to transmit a control signal, and in step S10, the sensor indicated by the control signal. A request message for requesting transmission of firmware to be updated to the specified sensor 100 is transmitted to the remote maintenance client 700. When receiving the request message, the remote maintenance client 700 transmits the corresponding firmware to the central processing server 500 in response to the request message (step S11). When the central processing server 500 receives the firmware, the central processing server 500 requests the remote maintenance server 400 to transmit the firmware (step S12). In response to a request from the central processing server 500, the remote maintenance server 400 transmits the firmware to the control device 50 via the network NT1 using, for example, the FTP protocol (step S13).

  On the other hand, when the control device 50 receives the control signal from the remote maintenance server 400 in step S4, the control device 50 refers to the maintenance target table 54 using the sensor name indicated by the control signal, and the IP address of the sensor 100 to be maintained. The maintenance content is identified by referring to the maintenance content table 55 using the maintenance number indicated by the control signal. When it is determined that the maintenance content is firmware update, the control device 50 waits for reception of the firmware. Then, when the control device 50 receives the firmware from the remote maintenance server 400 (step S14), in step S6, the control device 50 accesses the sensor 100 having the IP address specified in step S5, transmits the firmware, and transmits the firmware. Maintenance is executed by causing the sensor 100a to perform installation.

  While performing the maintenance as described above, when the detection result is transmitted from the other sensor 100, the control device 50 refers to the maintenance target table 54 using the target specifying information included in the detection result. If it is determined that the sensor 100 is a sensor 100 other than the maintenance target, the detection result is received, and an alarm is transmitted to the signal receiving server 200 according to the detection result. When the signal receiving server 200 receives an alarm, the signal receiving server 200 transmits a security signal to the central processing server 500. When the central processing server 500 receives the security signal, the central processing server 500 transmits it to the monitoring client 600. When the monitoring client 600 receives the security signal from the central processing server 500, for example, the monitoring client 600 displays a message indicating that an abnormality has occurred on the display unit. The monitor who sees this display can make a true report judgment and can consider the response.

  Next, the procedure of the alarm response process for transmitting an alarm according to the detection result from the sensor 100 when the maintenance target device is the control device 50 and the control device 50 is performing maintenance on itself is illustrated. 5 will be described. Steps S1 to S5 are the same as described above. However, in step S4, the control device 50 receives a control signal indicating the name and maintenance number of the control device 50 and instructing execution of maintenance from the remote maintenance server 400, and in step S5, the control device indicated by the control signal. Using the name 50, the maintenance target table 54 is referred to and it is determined that the device itself is a maintenance target device. Then, the control device 50 refers to the maintenance content table 55 using the maintenance number indicated by the control signal, identifies the content of the maintenance, and performs maintenance on itself in step S6. Although not shown here, when the maintenance content is firmware update, steps S10 to S13 in FIG. 4 are performed in the same manner as when the maintenance target device is the sensor 100, and the control is performed in step S14. The device 50 receives the firmware to be updated from the central processing server 500, and performs maintenance using this in step S6.

When the sensor 100 transmits a detection result during the execution of such maintenance (step S20), the control device 50 transmits a reception disable message indicating that the detection result cannot be received during the execution of the maintenance to the sensor 100. (Step S21). Sensor 1
When 00 receives the unreceivable message from the control device 50 (step S22), the detection result not received by the control device 50 is stored in association with the detection time (step S23). On the other hand, when the execution of the maintenance is completed, the control device 50 accesses each sensor 100 to determine whether or not there is a detection result stored during the execution of the maintenance. A result and detection time are acquired (step S24). And according to the said detection result, the control apparatus 50 transmits the warning containing the detection time of the said detection result to the signal reception server 200 (step S25).

  The contents of maintenance for the control device 50 include, for example, reading of the device state, communication test, and battery test. When performing such maintenance, the control device 50 receives the detection result transmitted from the sensor 100 in step S20, and performs steps S21 and S24 according to the detection result without performing steps S21 and S24. An alarm may be transmitted to the signal receiving server 200.

  According to the above configuration, remote maintenance can be performed on the sensor 100 without affecting the other sensor 100, and the control device 50 issues an alarm according to the detection result from the other sensor 100. Can be sent. For this reason, even during remote maintenance, it becomes possible to perform security efficiently.

  Further, even if the control device 50 is performing maintenance on itself, the results (detection results) detected by the sensor 100 during that time are accumulated, and the control device 50 acquires the detection results after the completion of the maintenance. By transmitting an alarm, the detection result of the sensor 100 can be grasped. Therefore, the monitoring center can grasp what has occurred in the security target area even during remote maintenance of the control device 50.

[Modification]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Moreover, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined. Further, various modifications as exemplified below are possible.

  In the above-described embodiment, various programs executed by the control device 50 may be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network. The various programs are recorded in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, and a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) in a file in an installable or executable format. May be configured to be provided. The same applies to various programs executed by the signal receiving server 200, the media receiving server 300, the remote maintenance server 400, the central processing server 500, the monitoring client 600, and the remote maintenance client 700, respectively.

  In the embodiment described above, the control device 50 accesses each sensor 100 and acquires the detection result that could not be received during the execution of the maintenance in step S24 of FIG. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the sensor 100 may periodically transmit the detection result. Even in this way, the control device 50 can receive the detection result from the sensor 100 at the timing after the completion of the maintenance of the control device 50.

  In the above-described embodiment, the control device 50 receives the alarm when the detection result is received from the sensor 100. The signal receiving server 200 is not the only destination, but the control device 50 corresponds to each sensor 100. Each server may be used.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the target specifying information indicated by the control signal is the name of the maintenance target device has been described. However, this may be an IP address. In this case, the control device 50 may not have the maintenance target table 54.

  In the above-described embodiment, each sensor 100 may be given a hierarchical address in addition to the IP address. For example, a plurality of sensors 100 are divided into groups, divided into a main group and a plurality of subgroups, a main address is assigned as a group address to the sensors 100 belonging to the main group, and the sensors 100 belonging to the subgroup are assigned. A subaddress is assigned to each subgroup as a group address. The grouping of the sensors 100 may be performed, for example, according to the place where the sensors 100 are arranged. In the security target area, the sensors 100 arranged in the same area are grouped into the same group. May be. Such main address and sub address are stored in advance in the maintenance target table 54 in association with the sensor name and IP address of the sensor 100. In this case, for example, when the control device 50 receives a control signal from the remote maintenance server 400 and performs a maintenance on the maintenance target sensor 100, a detection result is transmitted from another sensor 100. Referring to the target table 54, whether or not the subaddress associated with the target identification information (the sensor name or the IP address as described above) included in the detection result is the same as the subaddress of the maintenance target sensor 100. Determine whether. Accordingly, the control device 50 determines whether or not the maintenance target sensor 100 and the sensor 100 that has transmitted the detection result belong to the same subgroup. When the control device 50 determines that these sensors 100 belong to the same subgroup, the control device 50 performs the processes of S21, S24, and S25 in FIG. 5 while determining that these sensors 100 belong to different groups. In this case, the detection result transmitted from the sensor 100 may be received and an alarm may be transmitted to the signal receiving server 200.

  In the embodiment described above, an IP address is assigned to each sensor 100. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a unique address for identifying each sensor 100 may be assigned.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 50 Control apparatus 51 Signal receiving part 52 Maintenance execution part 53 Detection result process part 54 Maintenance object table 55 Maintenance content table 100,100a, 100b, 100c Sensor 200 Signal receiving server 400 Remote maintenance server 500 Central processing server 600 Monitoring client 700 Remote maintenance Client NT1, NT2 network

Claims (5)

A control device to which a plurality of sensors are connected and a server device is connected via a network,
First receiving means for receiving a detection result transmitted from the sensor;
First transmission means for transmitting an alarm according to the detection result received by the reception means;
Second receiving means for receiving a control signal including target specifying information for specifying a sensor to be maintained from the server device via the network and instructing execution of maintenance for the sensor;
Execution means for performing maintenance on the sensor according to the control signal received by the second receiving means;
When the receiving means receives a detection result including the target specifying information of another sensor while the execution means is performing maintenance on the sensor, the first transmission means In response, the control device transmits the alarm. The second receiving means receives from the server device a control signal including target specifying information for specifying the maintenance target control device and instructing execution of maintenance on the control device,
The execution means performs maintenance on the control device,
When the detection result including the target identification information of the sensor is transmitted while the execution unit is performing maintenance on the control device, a message to the effect that the detection result cannot be received is sent to the sensor. A second transmission means for transmitting to,
The control device according to claim 1, further comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires the detection result stored in the sensor after the execution unit finishes performing maintenance on the control device. Each sensor is given an address for identifying each sensor,
The control device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving unit receives the control signal including the address given to a sensor to be maintained. Each of the sensors is divided into groups, and each sensor is further given a group address,
Storage means for storing a correspondence relationship between the address assigned to the sensor and the group address;
The first transmission means receives a detection result from another sensor assigned with the group address different from the group address assigned to the sensor while the execution means performs maintenance on the sensor. The control device according to claim 3, wherein the alarm is transmitted when the receiving unit receives the alarm. Each sensor is given an IP (Internet Protocol) address,
5. The control device according to claim 3, wherein the reception unit receives the control signal including the IP address assigned to a sensor to be maintained.

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